Equinox Fantasy - Round 2

Game 2: Jeff (Ogres)

Mission: Battleline

Okay, so after my smashing in the first game, I was due for a game on the bottom tables, regardless of whether I was bye buster or not. I rocked on up and found Jeff with his Ogres, which scared me a bit. See, I'd already worked out that if High Elves didn't kill almost all of the enemies they were fighting in combat, they would die in droves when the other guy started hitting back. Couple this with Ogres being not too shabby in combat, and I thought this could be a tough one. We were supposed to play Watchtower I think, but the word from Phil was if you didn't have one on your table don't worry and just play Battleline instead.

Jeff's list was:

Tyrant, Cathayan Longsword, Glittering Scales, Greyback Pelt, Wyrdstone Necklace

Slaughtermaster, Scroll, 4+ Ward, Siegebreaker

Bruiser, BSB, some random bits and pieces

4 Bulls, Extra hand weapons

6 Bulls

6 Ironguts

5 Leadbelchers

2 Maneaters, GW, Cathayan longsword

2 Bull Rhinox

There were command models sprinkled here and there throughout his army too, but I've got no chance of remembering which unit had what ;) For the record I had the same spells as Game 1.

Deployment

I figured the Phoenix Guard were my best bet to deal with the Rhinox, as they would hold them up for a while due to the 4+ ward, giving me multiple chances to get Mindrazor off on them. I was going to divert and slow the Irongut bus (with Tyrant and BSB), while I dealt with the left flank, using the Lions to push forwards and the Princes to keep the Bulls on the flank honest to prevent a double charge on the Spears. The Mage is in the Spears, the BSB in the Lions, and the Reaver Bow in the 18 Archers

I lost the roll for first turn, and Jeff chose to go first.

Turn 1: Ogres

Not much to say here, it all went forwards 12", or 14" for the Rhinox. Magic was looking uneventful until a 2 dice 2D6 S2 no armour save snuck past my 4 dispel dice to kill 3 of the Princes. They failed panic and ran, meaning the Spears were now facing down a double charge. Great!

Turn 1: High Elves

Well, without the Princes (who rallied), I needed a new plan. The Phoenix Guard sat in front of the Rhinox to block them off. The eagle did the same to the 'Gut bus, slowing them for a turn. The Lions moved up to the Leadbelchers, hoping to be charged. The Spears had to move up too to stop the Bulls and Slaughtermaster flanking the Lions. The Mage wisely left the Spearmen to their doom and joined the Archers instead.

Magic gave me 6 dice. 2 were used on stopping a buff on the Bulls with Slaughtermaster (+1 T) and the other 4 went into a cheeky Mindrazor on the Phoenix Guard, which got through. This was fantastic, as it would delay the Rhinox by one whole game turn. Shooting knocked a model off of each of the units with characters inside.

Turn 2: Ogres

Again, Jeff's turn was pretty straightforward. He charged with everything bar the Rhinox. The only spell that went off was regen on the Slaughtermaster's unit, which didn't matter really since only 4 Spearmen had to attack them.

The Guts ran over the top of the Eagles, but the opposite happened to the White Lions. As expected, they butchered the Leadbelchers, leaving one with 1 wound left, who ran. The Maneaters stuck around due to stubborn. The Spearmen didn't fare so well, loosing around 8 models, and only doing a few wounds in return. Steadfast kept them there though.

Turn 2: High Elves

I charged the Phoenix Guard into the Rhinox, figuring I'd get an extra chance at Mindrazor if I was the one that charged. The Tiranoc Chariot flanked the Slaughtermaster's unit, and the Princes moved round to eye up the flank of the AHW Bulls.

I rolled an amazing 4 dice for magic, and I had to throw 2 at stopping regen on the unit that had just been charged by the Chariot, so no Mindrazor for me :( Shooting went into the Gut bus, and did a few wounds.

The Rhinox started the slow process of eating the Phoenix Guard, and they stuck around. The Lions finished off the Maneaters and spun to face the Bulls. The Chariot airballed, and a lot more Spearmen died. Fortunately I only lost by 1, and so stuck around once more.

Turn 3: Ogres

The Ironguts turned to face the back of the White Lions. Magic was uneventful, and the Rhinox killed a few more Phoenix Guard. The Spears were killed, but luckily the chariot passed its break test. The Slaughtermaster's unit combat reformed to face the chariot, and the other bulls faced the Princes.

Turn 3: High Elves

Time to dish out some hurt! The Dragon Princes charged the 2 Bulls in front of them, with a nice overrun lined up into the back of the other Bulls. The White Lions went into the front of this other unit as well.

Once again, I rolled 4 power dice (karma for last game I think) and had to stop a buff on the Slaughtermaster's Bulls, so still no Mindrazor, meaning the Phoenix Guard were as good as dead. I shot everything into the Guts again, causing another casualty.

The Dragon Princes ran over the top of the AHW Bulls into the back of the other unit. After all my attacks, only the Slaughtermaster was left, and he legged it away from the White Lions. I chased with everything in order to get away from the Guts. The Phoenix Guard were reduced down to 5 this turn, so were still steadfast, and stuck around.

Turn 4: Ogres

With not much left, Jeff's turn was pretty short. The Ironguts chased after the White Lions, and the Rhinox finished the Phoenix Guard off and turned around to get into the action.

Turn 4: High Elves

Everything on the right flank turned to face the Guts. Mr Reaver Bow drew the short straw, and was chosen to take one for the team. Shooting killed another Gut, so by now there were 3 left plus the 2 characters.

Turn 5: Ogres

The Tyrant attempted to charge the White Lions by himself, but failed, so stood out in the open looking silly instead. This meant the Reaver Bow guy was safe, and the Guts just reformed to face him. The Rhinox moved up behind the Guts.

Turn 5: High Elves

The White Lions charged the Tyrant, as I thought I had a pretty good chance of breaking him (I'm on +4: charge, standard, BSB and rank, and he only has 5 attacks to my 8. Even though I hit on 6's I'm getting a reroll due to ASF).

Magic saw the toughness of the Guts reduced by 2, and with all the shooting left on the table, both the Guts and the BSB were taken off. The Tyrant decided he was going to stick around, and the poor White Lions got ready for one hell of a charge coming their way...

Turn 6: Ogres

Needless to say, the Rhinox demolished the White Lions and BSB. Ouch!

Turn 6: High Elves

Well, the only thing left for me to do was try and kill something with shooting. The Tyrant had taken a wound from combat already, and didn't have a 3+ save like the Rhinox, so I picked him to die. Between a reduce toughness spell and 30-odd archers shots, I got him down to 1 wound. Then the Reaver Bow Noble got ready to finish the job, and dropped the ball completely! What a schmuck!

With that it was game over, and I'd won by a healthy margin. I can't remember the score, but I'm guessing it was in the region of 14-6.

This game was pretty straightforward. Jeff didn't have a lot of choice but to run at me, and that's something I'm quite happy to deal with, since had a lot of practice playing defensive games with my Dark Elves over the last year or two. I felt unlucky not to get enough dice to cats Mindrazor on the Phoenix Guard both turns they were in combat, but that just happens, and was more than made up for by my great magic dice in the first game.